This is the public policy forum of Minneapolis Second Ward (Green) City Council Member Cam Gordon and his staff. We use this space to talk about some of what Cam’s working on, explain his positions, and share a little of what life in City Hall is like. Please feel free to comment on posts, within certain ground rules. See our disclaimer, including ground rules, here: http://secondward.blogspot.com/2006/05/disclaimer.html#links

Friday, November 13, 2009

Riverside Ave Bike Lanes

Public Works staff has striped bike lanes on Riverside Avenue and 4th St S, all the way from 15th Ave S to Franklin. This was made possible - with no loss of off-street parking - by converting the road from a 4-lane to a 3-lane for much of its length.

First, I have also noticed that "cars often occupy the bike lane near corners." This is actually *required* by law. The safe way for a driver to make a right turn where there is a bike lane is to merge into the bike lane and take the turn from there. These folks are, for the most part, doing what they should be doing.

When Riverside is reconstructed (which is slated to happen in 2011), we can make sure that there are sufficient right turn lanes to handle this sort of stacking, reducing the use of the bike lane for stacking.

Second, it's always the case that bicyclists should beware of car doors from the parking lane. However, this is much less of a concern on Riverside than on other streets, even other streets with bike lanes, for one simple reason: the bike lanes on Riverside are fairly wide in most locations. I ride on Riverside (and other streets, both with bike lanes and without) on a regular basis, and I can tell you uniquivocally that I now feel much more protected from dooring on Riverside than most other streets in the Minneapolis.